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Analyst: Apple Has Ordered 10 Million 3G iPhones

Rumors and reports about a 3G version of the iPhone appear to be kicking into high gear the last week or so. On top of Kevin Rose's prediction earlier this week that we'll see 3G iPhones with video-calling capability, Gartner has weighed in and says Apple already has placed orders for 10 million 3G-enabled iPhones. Hoo-ahh!

Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner, says that reports coming from Asia indicate that the 3G iPhone is on its way to the market soon. Speaking to iPod Observer, he said that Apple followed up its initial iPhone order of 10 million (Apple's original sales goal for 2008) with a second round. The second order also was for 10 million, and he believes that it is more likely that this order is for 3G iPhones than for the current 2G version.

Mr. Dulaney adds some other juicy tidbits to the pot. He suggests that Apple has sped up plans to introduce the 3G iPhone. This is due to its lack of becoming a major hit in the European market, where its EDGE data radio simply doesn't compare with phones fitted with HSDPA radios. In fact, many European markets skipped EDGE technology altogether and went straight from the even-slower GPRS systems directly to HSDPA. This means the iPhone has to fall back on the pokey GPRS networks. Trust me when I say that using the iPhone via GPRS packet connections is absolutely miserable.

Lastly, Dulaney says that the 3G version of the iPhone also will switch the display to Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology. This could help the device balance out power consumption, because OLED displays draw less power than standard LCDs, while the 3G radio will draw more. It also could allow Apple to make the iPhone even thinner, though I dare suggest it doesn't really need to lose any weight.

Despite the rumors, we're still months away from the Apple WWDC, which is the most likely platform Jobs will use to announce a new version of the iPhone.

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